A Molokini dive trip is a truly exciting journey where every inch of the islet can be examined. Reef sharks, turtles, manta rays and other marine life will surround you as you analyze the makeup of Molokini Crater and it’s rough surface texture, fed on by a myriad of fish and other creatures. Another advantage of a Molokini dive is the clear water which offers some of the best visibility and showcases the natural wonders that are highlighted at the Maui Ocean Center. Unfortunately due to extensive visitation Molokini Island has suffered the consequences and has sustained damage from boat anchors carving out large areas of coral. (Why haven’t the dive ops added moorings?)

The inside (the bowel portion) is a National Marine Sanctuary. This is where the snorkeling boats go. Scuba diving 99.9% of the time is done on backside of the crater. About a 300 foot deep wall dive. Sometime they do start at the back near one of the corners. The backside is sometimes in books broken into as many as 5 dive sites. One of the reasons no one dives inside is the area would be closed to everyone else while the dive flag was on the boat. Its not that big an area. Planodiver

From Scubadiving.com;Molokini Back Wall

Molokini Crater is a geologic treasure, a picturesque submerged caldera filled with coral reefs that are a shallow, sunny haven for new divers. But our savvy readers know the real action is found around the backside of the 160-foot cliff, where a wall of volcanic rock drops more than 360 feet into the deep. Maui ranked in the top three of our Top 100 Readers Choice awards for best wall diving, no doubt in part because of this outstanding dive site. This advanced drift dive tours a vertical tapestry of cracks, caves and overhangs where octopuses, spiny lobsters and nudibranchs hide, along with whitetip sharks. But the main attraction is the chance to spot exotic passers-by, including manta rays, black-tip sharks, schooling jacks and the rare whale shark.

Its important to remember that the snorkeling site and the dive site are not the same. Snorkeling is done inside the crater (A National Marine Reserve) and diving on the sides and back of the crater. I was there again for several dives in late October and early November diving with ProDiver Maui. It is till the best place I have ever dived.

I have never experienced crowd problems on the backside of the crater. The inside is a National Park and a very popular with snorkelers. Most dive operation don’t dive in this area. Prodiver is the first to leave the dock at Kihei at 6 am sharp every morning and the first on side with a 6 pack of divers. B@B leaves about the same time with a little bit larger boat. They usually pick a different part of the backside. They are both very high quality operations. Unlike other parts of the world, most of these operators are very high quality.

Rating Added: 5Crystal clear water, not tons of fish but amazing coral, my first ocean dive! Went with Dive and Sea Maui, small outfit, had the best boat I saw and the boat was never crowded. I’d do it all again!

If you go out with a group like ProDiver they get their before the crowds. 6 divers and they leave the dock at Kihei at 6 am sharp. I did 4 dives with them in November and will doing that many again in a couple of months.